THE THIRD WAVE: DEMOCRATIZATION IN THE LATE TWENTIETH CENTURY, BY SAMUEL P HUNTINGTON. OKLAHOMA: UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA PRESS, 1991, 384 PAGES. ISBN: 9788475099606

The discourse on democratization features prominently in the work of Samuel P. Huntington (1927-2008) entitled ‘The Third Wave’ which was published in 1991. Huntington was one of the most influential political scientists and previously held the position of university professor at the prestigious Harvard Kennedy School in the US. He authored many academic books on comparative politics and was the founder of the Foreign Policy Journal as well as the former president of the American Political Science Association (IPSA). Written in six interesting chapters, Huntington’s Third Wave provides a clear-cut discussion on fundamental questions of when, why and how democratization occurs in different parts of the world. This fascinating book has contributed significantly to the empirical analyses on comparative transition to democracy and autocracy in around thirty global southern states, primarily in Latin America and Asia, and remains relevant for discourses on any future wave of global democratization.   Cite as: Syazli Saidin, M. I. (2021). The third wave: Democratization in the late twentieth century. (Book review).  Journal of Nusantara Studies, 6(1), 394-400. http://dx.doi.org/10.24200/jonus.vol6iss1pp394-40

Rethinking the ‘Arab Spring’: The Root Causes of the Tunisian Jasmine Revolution and Egyptian January 25 Revolution

This article reviews the events of 2010-2011 Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions with specific attention to the background of uprisings, timeline of events and causes of the revolutions. The focus of this study is to look into the factors that ignited the revolutions, both in Tunisia and Egypt. By examining secondary sources mainly through published reports dan journal articles, it will highlight how the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt evolved besides shedding light on the 2011 Arab Spring event. A number of factors have been selected under five main themes namely economics development, political legitimacy, social demography, Islamism and the advance of new social media. All these factors, to large extent have contributed to the causes of this popular uprisings which led to the collapse of the previous regime of Ben Ali and Hosni Mubarak. Among these factors, the role of new social media was identified as the main factor which secure the successful of the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt and considered as a new platform of political protest in the Middle East and North Africa

The challenges of regime change and political transition in Egypt and Libya after the Arab Uprisings: critical reviews of factors and implications

This article critically reviews the issues of the failure of democratic and political transition in Egypt and Libya in the post-Arab Spring Revolution. Several factors have been identified as the main contributors to the failed democratic process. The first one is the clash of ideology and political approach, as well as the adaptation of different patterns of administration, and the lack of compromise between the Islamists and the Secularists. The Islamist actors in Egypt that started to become politically dominant after the 2011–2012 election until the middle of 2013 is seen to have been lacking experience in governmental affairs, foreign policy formulation and economic management, owing to the old regimes’ restrictions that permitted them to freely involved in politics. There is also an external factor, such as the intervention from foreign and regional state actors on the internal politics of Egypt (against the Freedom and Justice Party’s rule under Morsi) and Libya (the effort to thwart Gaddafi’s regime by NATO and Western-led coalition). Thirdly, the factor of an internal fragmentation, such as the role of the military institution in Egypt that has always been active in the government’s policy-making process. In Libya, the social structure based on the competitive influence of the local tribes over politics also affect the effort for peace-building and democratisation. This study concludes that the Arab Spring Revolution in Egypt dan Libya has successfully stymied the old regime’s dictatorship, and yet it fails to translate the people’s hopes for political reform and economic changes via democratisation

Digital Media and Religious Sentiments in Malaysia: Critical Discourse Analysis of Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party and Democratic Action Party Cyberspace Campaigns in the 15th General Election

The challenge arises from Malaysia’s struggle to foster peaceful connections among its diverse ethnic groups, mainly due to the prevalence of politics centered around religious and ethnic identities. To examine how racialised political sentiments subtly influence power dynamics, this study analyses four digital excerpts using a critical discursive approach. The primary sources are secondary materials such as videos and social media posts in cyberspace related to the 15th General Election political campaigns. This article demonstrates that language is used to create and reinforce religious and racial divisions in pursuing political power by the two most significant political parties, the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) and the Democratic Action Party (DAP). It emphasises the underlying power that drives these discourses, where cyberspace linguistic features and access to digital technologies have the “power” to shape audience reactions. The selected analysed excerpts collectively contribute to the primary discourse that fuels racial sentiments, especially those related to race, religion, and royalty (3R sentiments) in electoral competition

Perang Enam Hari Arab Israel 1967 menerusi perspektif teori realisme

Realism approach has dominated the studies of world politics and international relations since the last of the World War II and until the start of the Cold War era. The focus of this study is to look into the factors that ignited the war other than identifying the policies or actions taken by the countries involved in the war. The question that arises lies in the extent to which the approach is able to explain the factors and actions taken by the leaders, to the point that it led to the 1967 war, and how this war can serve as guidance for our understanding of the Realism Theory. The objective of this study is to unravel the chains of events that had become the background of the 1967 Arab-Israeli War by concentrating on the root causes of the war and the policies of the countries involved, other than offering justification for the Realism Theory by looking closely into the characteristics, assumptions, and concepts under this approach. The methodology of this work employs document analysis and historical studies to obtain complete data. The analysis was carried out by applying the Arab-Israeli war events to the Realism Theory to prove that there is an association between the causes of the war and the theory through the analysis unit, key assumptions and substantial concepts contained in the Realism approach. The unit of analysis, which places the countries as the main actor in the international system, can be seen through the main role of Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Israel throughout the period of war. Concepts such as power, power balance, national interests, national sovereignty and self-help are also associated with the causes behind this war through a series of facts that have manifested themselves in the event

Perkembangan politik Malaysia Pasca PRU-12 : satu tinjauan menerusi perspektif etnosentrisme

Kedinamikan politik Malaysia terserlah setiap kali menjelang musim pilihan raya. Kerencaman latar belakang masyarakat Malaysia menjadikan persaingan politik yang berasaskan garis perkauman, identiti, kelompok etnisiti dan agama yang bersifat ekstrem semakin popular dalam kalangan elit dan pendokong parti politik. Hal ini berlarutan ketika PRU-12 sehingga ke PRU-14, di mana perspektif etnosentrisme telah meningkat secara dramatik dengan setiap isu dan perkara yang berlaku di peringkat setempat mahupun nasional dijadikan hujah politik berlandaskan justifikasi perkauman dan agama. Perkembangan media sosial secara tidak langsung turut memainkan peranan signifikan dalam menyebar luas elemen entnosentrisme di Malaysia. Kajian ini menganalisis perkembangan politik etnosentrisme di Malaysia secara kualitatif menerusi analisis dokumen dan pemerhatian tidak langsung dengan mengambil contoh isu dan peristiwa dominan yang berlaku diantara tahun 2008-2018, dan bagaimana ianya mempengaruhi pola pengundian pilihan raya dalam tempoh tersebut. Manipulasi isu penggunaan kalimah Allah, polemik pengiktirafan UEC, tuntutan HINDRAF dan IFC oleh elit politik dilihat telah mempengaruhi sentimen pengundi bukan Melayu, khususnya dari segi pengurangan sokongan terhadap Barisan Nasional yang memiliki parti-parti komponen berasaskan kaum. Politik etnosentrisme turut mempengaruhi sentimen pengundi Melayu di mana sokongan terhadap UMNO dan PAS selaku parti politik berasaskan ekslusiviti kelompok Melayu Islam dilihat tidak mengalami perubahan ketara malah semakin kukuh bagi ketiga-tiga siri PRU-12, 13 dan 14 sekaligus mengekalkan status quo parti-parti tersebut sebagai parti teras Melayu-Islam di Malaysia. Kajian ini menyimpulkan bahawa politik etnosentrisme sukar digugat di Malaysia, selagi mana isu-isu berasaskan kaum dan agama menjadi ‘propaganda’ kempen politik dan ianya memberi kesan terhadap kesepaduan antara kaum untuk jangka masa panjang

‘State Feminism' dan perjuangan wanita di Tunisia pasca Arab Spring 2011

Over the last decade, the Arab Spring phenomenon in the Middle East and North Africa has brought significant transformation towards Tunisia’s political landscape. During the 14 days of street protest, Tunisian women have played critical roles in assisting their male counterparts in securing the ultime goal of the revolution – regime change. This article argues that after the 2011 revolution, the new Tunisian government has gradually adopted the principal idea of state feminism, which emphasizes on the role of ruling government via affirmative action in supporting the agenda of women’s rights. In so doing, this article examines the connection between state feminism and the plight of women’s struggles in Tunisia after the 2011 revolution and, looks into the impact of top down polices, and government approaches towards improving the status of women. This article concludes that women in the post revolutionary era have experienced a new trajectory in political and social freedom,the country has recorded a spike increase in the number of active female lawmakers, government executives, politicians, electoral candidates and the emergence of human right groups, gender activists and feminist movements. All these ‘women’s actors’ have directly involved in the process of drafting the new Tunisian constitution, which resulted in the acknowlegdement of women’s rights protection via article 46 in 2014 and the Nobel Peace Price Award in 2015

Brexit dan Referendum Keahlian Kesatuan Eropah 2016: implikasi terhadap landskap politik United Kingdom

Artikel ini meneliti implikasi Brexit dan Referendum Keahlian Kesatuan Eropah (EU) 2016 terhadap lanskap politik United Kingdom. Perbincangan kajian meliputi sejarah perkembangan isu Brexit, latar belakang Referendum 2016 serta analisis keputusan pilihan pengundi dan beberapa isu politik post-truth yang menjadi perdebatan pasca referendum. Kajian dijalankan menggunakan kaedah pemerhatian langsung serta analisis dokumen primer dan sekunder seperti warta rasmi kerajaan, Hansard parlimen, laporan media dan badan penyelidikan bebas, kenyataan pemimpin politik dan penulisan ilmiah. Keputusan referendum memperlihatkan pendirian rakyat UK yang berbelah bahagi di mana 51.9 peratus pengundi memilih untuk UK meninggalkan keahlian EU dan menyokong kempen Brexit manakala 48.1 peratus mahu UK kekal sebagai ahli EU. Dapatan kajian menjelaskan terdapat beberapa faktor utama yang menyumbang kepada kerencaman pola pengundian rakyat UK terhadap keputusan referendum iaitu perbezaan lokaliti dan demografi, jurang pendidikan dan tahap sosio-ekonomi, perbezaan pendirian pemimpin kanan parti politik utama di England dan Scotland serta pengaruh sentimen Euroscepticism, khusus terhadap polemik jumlah sumbangan tahunan UK kepada EU dan ancaman Islamisasi melalui penyertaan Turki sebagai ahli baharu EU. Kemenangan kempen Leave pasca Referendum 2016 meninggalkan dua kesan utama kepada lanskap politik UK. Pertama, berlaku peningkatan terhadap populariti dan aktivisme parti politik dan gerakan haluan kanan seperti UK Independence Party (UKIP), British National Party (BNP) dan English Defence League (EDL). Kedua, perkembangan politik populisme yang didorong oleh sentimen xenofobia dan Islamofobia dilihat semakin berleluasa sebagai kempen untuk menarik sokongan rakyat disamping turut menyumbang kepada peningkatan kadar jenayah kebencian (hate-crime) yang disasarkan kepada golongan minoriti dan imigran